Vimto Bottle And Ingredients – Manchester, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 28.530 W 002° 14.064
30U E 550813 N 5925440
This wooden sculpture of a bottle of a fruit drink and its constituent fruit contents is on the site of the original factory where it was first made in 1908.
Waymark Code: WMETXB
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/07/2012
Views: 3
John Noel Nichols originally made the drink as a health tonic in cordial form. It contains the juice of green grapes, raspberries and blackcurrants and also vanilla.
J.N. Nichols still sells Vimto, but these days it is manufactured under licence by other companies. The site of this first place of manufacture is now owned by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (U.M.I.S.T.).
The sculpture was placed here in 1992 and was carved out of an oak tree with a chainsaw from a sustainable forest by the sculptor Kerry Morrison.
Over the years the sculpture suffered badly from the weather and had started to rot. All the original paintwork had also faded away and some of the original pieces of fruit had also disappeared, it’s believed taken by students from the university.
In 2011 the sculpture was taken away for restoration by Acorn Furniture in Wrexham. When it was returned on 16th September 2011 the Great Grandson of John Nichols was there to welcome it back to its home.
This
website shows how Acorn Furniture went about restoring the sculpture and trying to make it weather and vandal proof.
Apparently the sculpture is quite controversial with people's opinion split about whether they love it or loathe it. Some lecturers from the university were also concerned about frivolous spending by the university especially at a time when many jobs were at risk.
However all the original costs and restoration costs were paid for by the company itself rather than the university.